2024-01-06T05:34:52+00:00
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/ Mario Zagallo, who won the FIFA World Cup four times with Brazil as a player and coach, died today, Saturday, at the age of 92.
As a player, Zagallo was one of the mainstays of the Seleção, two-time world champions in 1958 and 1962, alongside stars such as Pele and Garrincha, and the former left winger was known for his defensive qualities that were unusual for his position at the time.
After retirement, he entered the world of coaching, and supervised the training of the Brazilian national team, the world champion in 1970, which is considered one of the best national teams ever, with Pele, Rivelino, Jairzinho, Tostao and Gerson.
In the 1998 World Cup, Zagallo was at the head of the technical management of the Seleção, which qualified for the final match before losing to the host France.
Only two other players have won the World Cup as a player and coach: German Franz Beckenbauer (1974 and 1990) and Frenchman Didier Deschamps (1998 and 2018).
In the 1994 World Cup, Zagallo served as assistant coach to Carlos Alberto Parreira, during the fourth of Brazil’s five world titles.
The Brazilian football legend left the Barra d’Or Hospital in Rio de Janeiro last November, after lying there for more than two weeks due to a urinary tract infection.
In 2022, he spent nearly two weeks in semi-intensive care in the same hospital, due to a respiratory infection.